Sipendi vyakula vya kukaanga.

Sipendi breaks down as si- + -pend- + -i.

• si- = negative subject marker for I
• -pend- = the verb root like / love
• -i = the final vowel used in the present negative

So ninapenda means I like, but sipendi means I do not like.

Because Swahili usually includes the subject inside the verb. In sipendi, the si- already means I do not. So a separate mimi is not necessary.

You can say Mimi sipendi vyakula vya kukaanga, but mimi adds emphasis, like Me, I don’t like fried foods.

Vyakula is the plural of chakula.

• chakula = food, a meal, or a dish
• vyakula = foods, meals, or dishes

In this sentence, vyakula refers to foods or kinds of food in general.

Vya has to agree with vyakula, which is a plural noun in the ki-/vi- noun class pair.

Swahili uses matching forms for words like of or for:

• chakula cha ... = food of/for ...
• vyakula vya ... = foods of/for ...

So because the noun is vyakula, the correct connector is vya.

Kukaanga means to fry. The ku- form is the infinitive, like to fry in English.

After a connector like vya, Swahili often uses an infinitive this way. So vya kukaanga literally means something like of frying or for frying.

Literally, yes: it is built from the infinitive kukaanga, so the structure is closer to foods for frying or foods connected with frying.

But languages do not always match word-for-word. In context, this kind of phrase can be translated more naturally into English as fried foods if that is the intended meaning.

If you wanted to be very explicit about foods that have been fried, Swahili can also use a more detailed form such as vyakula vilivyokaangwa.

English often uses food as an uncountable noun, but Swahili frequently uses chakula / vyakula to talk about food items, dishes, or types of food.

So vyakula may sound plural in Swahili even when English would naturally translate it as simply food. That is why a smooth English translation might be I don’t like fried food, even though the Swahili noun is plural.

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, or the. Whether something is food, the food, or some food usually comes from context.

So vyakula vya kukaanga does not need a separate word for the.

Yes. That is grammatical. Adding mimi makes the subject more explicit or emphatic.

• Sipendi vyakula vya kukaanga = neutral, normal
• Mimi sipendi vyakula vya kukaanga = I don’t like fried foods / As for me, I don’t like fried foods

In ordinary conversation, leaving out mimi is very common because the verb already shows the subject.